Give and Take
by Forever2Never
Summary: the ways they fall slowly and the ways they resist.
1. Chapter 1

**Give and Take**

The ways they fall slowly, and the ways they resist.

* * *

After it is over she doesn't feel anything.

They fly between sky and land under a million stars but the beauty is lost on her cold, blue eyes.

Why should she try to feel when everything she loves is slowly being taken away from her? Her father is lost, her mother is dead, and her mother's killer still lives. Even though hope remains she cannot help but experience hopelessness. It sneaks up on her in the most despairing of times.

She doesn't mean to cry. It's so weak, and pathetic but she does anyways. There is no one around to witness but an ex-prince focused on flying them home. She prays her sniffles don't reach his ears.

But they do, of course.

He pretends he doesn't hear her hiccups and deep gasps and lets her cry in peace. It's what he would've wanted, if he was in her stead. In a way they are both the same: no mothers, no love. No stable family life to speak of: all shattered and broken. From the journey between opposing sides to teammates he has witnessed enough of her bravery to know that she is actually very scared. They all are.

But they're just kids after all. No matter how quickly they've been forced to grow up, there are moments when he feels like a freshly scarred little boy, barely a teenager. They'll always be just kids.

Kids fighting a war begun by foolish adults.

Even so, he's amazed at her ability to remain firm. With her mother's killer within killing reach, she had found it in herself to spare him; to let him live. It would've wrought years of guilt upon her had she went through it, but the fact that she had been able to see through her rage and quest for revenge and do the right thing makes him feel….proud.

He admires her strength and her beliefs. He hopes that he will be always be able to hold onto his ideals now that he has chosen the right path.

They fly until Appa can't physically move them through the air anymore, and by that time she has fallen silent behind him. No more tears, just deep even breaths. Appa lands with a grunt and he can finally move from his sitting position and stretch his muscles. A look at Katara reveals her sprawled out body, mouth slightly open, hair splayed about her face.

She looks much too peaceful to wake, so he attempts to lift her and move her himself. But before he can get three steps her blue eyes have opened and she struggles in his arms.

"Zu-"

"Let me do this." He interrupts. "You're tired. You're drained. Let me do you this one small favor."

She bites her lip, muttering "You've already done me enough favors." But in the end settles her head onto his shoulder with a resigned "Fine." He's more than thankful she's not resisting him anymore.

He carries her from the bison, along with their two packs on his shoulders and walks until there's a flat enough spot to camp for the night. She rests against a log as he pitches a tent and starts a small fire. By the time it's blazing enough to keep them warm he himself is exhausted and he sits down a respectable distance away.

She still hasn't forgiven him yet and he has to force himself to remember this. Her devastated state is probably the only thing that had allowed for the previous contact, and she'll be back to herself in the morning. Back to wanting to kick his butt.

"Zuko?" He looks up to meet her gaze and is surprised to find a fresh set of tears brimming the top of her long-lashed eyelids. Her hair is sort of a mess around her face but she looks almost cute in a pitiful way.

"Yes, Katara?" He says, fighting to keep the gentleness from his voice. The last thing she'll want is his pity.

"Can you- Can you do me one more favor, please?" She asks and suddenly she looks very small, curled up against that log. She really needn't have asked. He holds his arms out to her like his mother had done to him so long ago and she crawls that respectable distance, and melts into his chest like an ice cube over flame.

"I'm sorry," she sobs. "I just can't feel anything anymore. I can't feel anything at all."

"You'll be okay." He says, her dark hair tickling his lips. "You'll be okay again. You just need time."

She buries her face into his neck and sniffs, inhaling what he guesses is smoke and remnants of Fire Nation spice. "No more favors, okay?"

He nods, holding back a small wry smile and choosing to embrace this rare moment of feeling needed instead. "No. No more favors."

* * *

When they reach their friends again everything is mostly the same. They don't speak very much on the ride home, but in the end she wraps her arms around his neck and whispers her forgiveness in his ear. It's one of the last burdens to go from his back and he can relax into her hug. Maybe he's not allowed to do her anymore favors, but she has done him the greatest one of all.

* * *

**ahhhh. i'm writing zutara again. i love it (: but i'm going to delete my other one. it sucks. maybe i'll rewrite it but i doubt it. it's whatever, lollllz. **

**anyways i hope you enjoyed this. It could be multi chapter but i'm not suuuure. for now it's just...this. (:**

**read&review boos (;**


	2. Chapter 2

**Give and Take**

The ways they fall slowly, and the ways they resist**  
**

_**Return the Favor**_

* * *

The air crackles tightly with electricity and she almost wishes she'd gone with the others. That would of been stupid though; leaving Zuko to fend for himself, so she dismisses the thought as soon as it comes.

He's battling his own flesh and blood now. It's orange against cold blue and actually she hasn't done much of anything. He really is fending for himself and doing it quite well. They meet blow for blow with equally matched flame but there is something about the deranged princess that has Katara on edge. She can feel the lightning brimming at the girl's jagged fingernails and it hums against her eardrums. All she has to do is center herself, wind up and let the energy gather...

Katara keeps her water near in case something ridiculous happens. Like Zuko getting injured which she prefers not to think about. Somehow he's become one of her top priorities and she refuses to fail him when victory is so close.

She keeps her eyes on the both of them, watching them exchange blasts and the battle is extraordinary. It's beautiful in the explosive mixture of color; the hiss and the pop of heat that fans over her tan skin. They shouldn't be fighting like this. Brother against sister. But it's been inevitable for so long and it's one of the final steps to end this war. It has to be done.

Before long her eyes are solely on him. He's focused, gaze on his sister though his body flows through a number of difficult forms to counteract her attacks.

There's sweat on his brow, and his hair has grown so unkempt that it brushes his eyelashes. But she kind of likes that hair...likes the way it moves with him opposed to the awkward baldness he'd sported just a short while back. It goes along with the new him; this new caring, dedicated boy whom she'd never thought she might come to care for. (The way in which she cares is still yet to be determined but she calls it friendship to cut out pondering time)

Suddenly, the atmosphere changes. Her blue eyes make contact with his gold, and she can practically taste the change as they melt from determined to fearful to determined again. A snarl from the princess and then Katara is very aware of a crackling bolt of lightning slithering through the air in her direction. She chastises herself in the moment for being so stupid - for not paying well enough attention. She's angry for being distracted and then at the idea that she could die right then and there, lacking so many experiences and ending up another victim of war. What will everyone do without her? What will Zuko do without her?

And then the aforementioned Prince's body is between her and her almost-killer and he hits the ground with a thud. He seizes once, attempts to get up, and then nothing.

She's not angry at herself anymore; she's infuriated at someone else entirely.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid boy_ she thinks, before withdrawing her element from her water pouch and submitting herself to battle. _Didn't I say no more favors?_

Azula's aim is practically indiscernible now so she has to jump from place to place praying she wont be struck. Each moment she's inches from being electrocuted and every one of her parrying attacks are deftly avoided. It's getting ridiculous and Katara is running out of water. Her senses automatically extend, searching for another source and almost instantly she can hear the trickling of her element beneath a grate. The idea forms in her mind, and then she acts.

It's almost too easy, the way the Princess falls for her trap. The great wave of water that Katara freezes them in is clear enough for her to see Azula's confused and horrified face. Katara is well aware that had she been a little less insane, the plan wouldn't have worked. But she takes advantage of the fact that it has and breathes through her nose, bending the ice into water around her so she can chain the princess to the grate. Gasping for breath, she lets the wall drop and the exasperated girl can fully grasp that she's been defeated. Her howling screams echo in Katara's ears as she returns to the boy that has so foolishly taken her bolt of lightning.

She drops to her knees beside him and the first glimpse of his injury is really, _really bad. _The skin is completely blackened, nerves most likely dead, and the wound gets progressively worse until it meets the center. His face is so pale and now that perfectly unkempt hair is plastered to his sweaty forehead. _Stupid, stupid boy. _

She summons enough water to cover the area and places her hands on his chest, wincing. Some of that miraculous spirit water would have been perfect for this moment and she tries to hold back tears because she doesn't have any. His chest feels hollow, like there's nothing beneath it the way there should be and she feels so afraid. What if he doesn't wake up? What if this isn't enough? It had barely been enough for Aang….

Before long the blackened wound has healed into something light pink around the edges and dark pink and puckered in the center. He still hasn't opened his eyes though, so she keeps on. She can feel the chi where his heart should be and it's all twisted and just _wrong. _Nothing happens for the longest time. Nothing. He doesn't move, he doesn't breathe. She heals and heals desperately until he can't be healed anymore….and then collapses onto his chest when it's not enough.

"Zuko," she cries, and she feels like a little girl again, sobbing over her mother's burnt body. "You're so stupid and dumb. I hate you. You suck so hard, I really could've handled this! Why do I always end up crying on you, **damnit.**

I hate you for being brave. I hate you for being so rock-headed and temperamental and stubborn. I hate you for dying on me, when I've just started to like you!" She stops her ranting for a moment to wipe her face because her tears are getting really obnoxious, but when she sits up something catches her eye.

Movement.

It's just a small sliver of gold behind a barely twitching eyelid but it's enough. She promptly presses her head against his chest once more and there it is….a heartbeat. Fragile but there never the less. Gods, he's alive. He's actually alive.

Before she can stop herself she grabs fistfuls of his scorched tunic and pulls him into a sitting position, right into her arms. Careful not to further damage his injury, she lets his limp body lean into her; lets his pale face settle against her shoulder. Her fingers delve into the messy black hair at the base of his neck and she holds him like she'd held the Avatar upon his return from death. Something about this situation is just a little different this time though.

It doesn't take long before Zuko's eyes flutter fully open and his own arms move to return the hug, albeit weakly.

"Katara?" he coughs, with more rasp than normal.

"Shh, " she says. "You're hurt, but you're okay now." And then, as an after thought, "Oh and I hate you."

He laughs a little harder than a mortally wounded person should, shoulders shaking under her hold. "Again?"

Katara sighs and then settles her chin on the crown of his head. "No. But I said no more favors, and you threw yourself in front of a lightning bolt. You never listen."

"I don't," he agrees. "But you saved my life. I think we're even. Our roles have reversed."

His words bring her back to a cold, hopeless night. To a flickering fire and a weak girl seeking comfort in it's maker. Any other moment and she might have blushed; might have denied it's happening. But it _had _happened. And he was right.

"So they have." She murmurs, and then holds him a little tighter. Maybe he's an ex-prince. Maybe she likes his unkempt hair and this new person he's turning out to be even though the very idea is kind of weirding her out. Maybe their world is possibly crumbling as they speak, or maybe it's being made right again. But she can at least return to him what he has given.

"So they have."

* * *

**ahhhhhhhhhh. i feel like i started my last author's note out that way...which i did. LOL. any who, i'm just so excited that you guys liked this! whoo. So i've decided to keep it going. Maybe two or three more chapters. i already have some budding ideas :D **

**by the way, i've decided to delete my other "long" zutara fic, What You Mean to Me. it sucked. i may rewrite but who knows at this point.i have two fics to focus on writing and i want to finish them both so i'm not starting a new one any time soon. **

**so yeah, i think that's all i have to say lolllllz.**

**read&review dolls (;**


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